Blood Bound: Unlacing Secret Ties by Marie-Josee Poisson is a work of historical fiction that reimagines the life of Madame de Pompadour, the chief mistress of King Louis XV.
Less consciously literary and considerably more pulpy than Laurence, the Jan Hilliard novel Morgan’s Castle (written by Nova Scotia-born Torontonian Hilda Kay Grant), suggests an alternative CanLit tradition to me—our dime store authors.
Now he is just days from graduation, and things are once again going off-kilter. Alex has noticed an increase in patients coming into the hospital who are victims of violent episodes.
During his stay, he takes the reader on a roller-coaster journey through the eyes of a Westerner witnessing life under oppression in places like Hong Kong and mainland China, where teenagers play with drones, yet banned books are smuggled into the country.
“Every woman has value, and we deserve to have our murders investigated and solved and our killers locked away.” – Sister Pius
It’s 1999, and Tim Brown is taking an unprecedented sabbatical from editing the South River Times to delve into the connections between his many communities: the newspaper, the church choir, the local diner, the Chamber of Commerce, even the Nova Scotia Legislature. His mix of canniness and naiveté – he inherited his job and rarely leaves South River – makes the character complex enough to keep readers engaged.
There is a mystery to uncover situated in the detailed life on the farm during the late 1800s. Black’s flair for writing superb and timely dialogue keeps the reader planted in this time and space.
A follow-up to As We Forgive Others, A Place of Secrets does well as a stand-alone while honouring the characters and premise of the book that came before it.
Featuring Bruce Hunter, Sean Minogue, Ivanka Fear, and Callista Markotich
Paxman is a whiz at threading this complex and evolving history into a recognizably Christie-esque formula, whether it’s Death on the Nile or A Haunting in Venice.
Author Emily Hepditch creates an unforgettable and suspenseful nail-biter. To begin the story, each character receives the same letter, inviting them to a grand mansion on a secluded island, Painted Place.
The book takes place three years after Who By Fire, and we see Dame adjusting to motherhood, balancing it with her work and with tending to her father, Dodge, the famous athlete and detective now coping with aphasia.
The prologue brings the reader immediately into a situation of nightmares, filling a mind with fantastic scenarios one would want to immediately pinch themselves awake from.
A fast-paced adventure that asks the hard questions of the responsibilities of sons and teenagers.
© 2025| THE Miramichi Reader
